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Wearable Technology on its way into International Cricket

I have to admit I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to Cricket but the following story from the Cricket world got my attention:

In a recent move, Cricket Australia slapped a ninety days ban on its fast bowler Aaron Bird on the charge of illegal bowling action. In another move, International cricket council, in association with Marylebone Cricket Club has cracked down heavily on the illegal bowling practices.

The guardians of cricket have now decided to import wearable technology in cricket to find out whether or not a bowler has resorted to illegal throwing acts during delivery.

Both Cricket organizations will jointly funding a Griffith University project for the development of a wearable, real-time electronic sensor to record and monitor the bowling action during delivery. Some of the Australia’s elite sporting bodies are also involved in the project.

The aim is to design a sensor in a way to be able to assess the legality of the action of a bowler in real time. The current Cricket regulation defines that a more than 15-degree elbow extension is not allowed in the bowling action.

What comes to my mind when reading the requirement specification is the use of textile stretch sensors like the one used in the Motion Capture Costume. Using electrically conductive, resistive textiles that change the resistance value when stretched could be used to detect the degree of the elbow bending. Textile sensors have also the advantage to be integrated into Cricket shirts seamlessly.

Maybe my Cricket knowledge is not as deep as needed but wearable technologies like smart fabrics might help one day to take out the long arguments from sporting events, not only in Cricket but other sport disciplines as well.